Return as a Nightmare
by Rinna Zeki-Xiphos
Summary: Squall's been missing for 6 years, Seifer the same, and Raine's been gone almost 50 now. On one fateful night, they all return...changed in ways no one could imagine.
1. Appearances

Chapter One: Appearances

28 May, 1998

"I can't believe you're getting married, Squall."

Quistis Trepe, 20, stretched, looking up at the stars from her beautiful view from the Balamb Beach. Nida, 19, shook his head also. Over the past year, after the defeat of Ultemecia, Quistis, Nida, and Squall Leonhart, also 19, had gotten to be good friends.

Exactly one week ago, Squall Leonhart had proposed to his girlfriend of one year and someodd months, Rinoa Heartilly, 18. Now he sat on the beaches with Nida and Quistis, enjoying the night and just killing time.

"Me either," Squall grinned, shaking his head.

"Seems like yesterday we were graduating," Nida pointed out.

"We should get back," Quistis stood up, as did the boys.

"Hey, what's…" Nida trailed off, staring up at a bright light in the sky. Quistis squinted, and Squall reached up to shade his eyes, hand on his gunblade.

Flash. Nida covered his eyes, temporarily blinded by the light. When his vision came back, Quistis was laying on the ground, and Squall was gone.

"I'll-I'll-be right back, Quisty," Nida said, hopping in the car and driving to the nearest phone.

26 September, 1998

"They still haven't found Squall, have they?"

Fujin, 18, and Seifer Almasy, 20, stood on the docks of Balamb, watching the sunset.

"Who cares?" Seifer shrugged. "They'll find him. They always find the hero."

"Seifer…"

"Oh, c'mon, Fujin," Seifer scowled. "If it were me, the world would consider it a favor."

"…" Fujin sighed. "…I wouldn't, Seifer. Well, I'll see you around," she waved and walked off.

Seifer watched her until he couldn't see her anymore, then went back to staring at the sun, which was almost now completely hidden under the horizon. Suddenly, he felt a warm radiance, and stared up at a mysterious, bright light seeming to come from nowhere…

25 December, 1954

"It's Christmas, Laguna…where are you?"

Raine Loire, 26, stood on the cliff where she'd promised him she'd be waiting. How many years had it been? Only one, but it felt like a lifetime of forevers…

"You keep saying you'll come home," she shivered, trying to ignore the stinging of snowflakes against her pale face. "You're still not here. Elle misses you. You don't even know about our child, **_I_** miss you…"

She felt a sudden warmth, and the dark night suddenly seemed to light up, but only in one spot. She closed her eyes. The light was so bright…so bright…

"Laguna…"

31 December, 2003 - - - **PRESENT DAY**

"Esthar's aeronautical and space administration has determined that the comet will hit the Centra area at approximately 12:00 a.m., standard Estharian time, around the area in Centra where the Crystal Pillar once was. Nobody knows yet what kind of damage will be done. We'll keep you covered, here on Balamb's best news channel, VMKZ Channel 2."

Headmaster Cid Cramer clicked off the TV, looking at SeeDs Selphie Tilmitt, 26, and Xu, 28.

"What do you want us to do about it, Headmaster?" Xu asked.

"Nothing…yet. But if anything comes from this that would require Balamb Garden's involvement, then I just want you to know that you two will be in charge of anything. Is that okay?" Cid blinked wearily.

"Yes, sir," both girls saluted him.

"Do you…think we could go in for a closer look?" Selphie asked.

"…the Ragnarok's parked outside. You two take care, and get out of there if it gets dangerous," Cid sighed. "Promise?"

"Yes, sir," they smiled, saluting him again.

"Dismissed," Cid shook his head. "Take care, girls. I don't want to lose any more students."

"We will," Selphie waved as they ran out.

"There it is," Xu pointed as Selphie drove. The media swarmed the area. Xu watched the news on a small TV built into the Ragnarok. "The press are so risky," she scowled, shaking her head. "Galbadia just launched 5 huge missiles at this comet. Esthar launched 3. 6 of the 7 hit…and the comet hasn't been phased. Hover here."

Selphie stopped a bit away from the sight of the impact, a safe distance, and watched the radar screen and then out the windshield.

"This is insane, Xu."

"I know," she shook her head.

"How much longer until impact?"

"Three minutes," Xu sighed nervously. "Hope nothing bad comes from this."

"…have you ever had a bad feeling about something?" Selphie asked quietly, twisting her hands in her lap.

"…we'll be okay, Selph'," Xu nodded, glancing at her watch. "Sixty seconds until impact. 59. 58…"

Selphie gulped, putting her hands around the joysticks of the Ragnarok, ready to leave quickly incase something big happened.

"15 sec—Selph', open your eyes. It's slowing down."

The ball of light hovered just above the ground.

"Caraway to Ragnarok, over," came General Caraway's scratchy voice over the radio.

"We hear you, General," Xu said into the radio.

"…fire whatever you have at the comet."

"Yes, sir," Xu nodded, taking a deep breath, aiming, and hitting a button. Missiles fired at the comet. It exploded in a huge blast of light, sending shockwaves through the area. The Ragnarok shivered, and suddenly it was as if nothing ever happened.

"That's odd…" Selphie said faintly. "There's something moving on the radar."

"Go closer, Selphie. Land us somewhere."  
Selphie landed, and the girls hopped out.

"Oh heavens…" Xu said breathessly.

"What appears to be around five thousand people have just appeared from that ball of light," a reporter said in a shaky voice.

Selphie and Xu exchanged voices, running toward the people.

a/n: hey, xifa here! I actually wrote this story a year ago, but just now found the story. So…I don't own FF8, but I also don't own 'The 4400', the story that this crosses over with. If you missed 'The 4400' (it was on a year ago), season one is 6 episodes long and can be purchased at Wal-Mart. Season two will also begin airing in June, but I forgot what channel. It's a really cool concept, though. I'll give you a quick rundown—it's about these 4400 people who mysteriously disappeared and have reappeared with no memory of what's happened. They haven't aged, either. Most of it I'll be sure to explain, but if you have any questions, let me know and I'll explain better.

Please stick with me!

Love and peace,

xifa--


	2. Quarantine

Chapter Two: Quarantine

"What a great way to kick off the new year, 2004," Xu sighed, staring at the paper in her hand. "There's four thousand and four hundred of them. All of them disappeared without a trace at various times, but none of them have aged since the day they last remember."

"Xu…where have they been?" Selphie blinked, looking at the paper with disbelief. "I can't help but feel so sorry for their poor families! And for them too!"

"…that's the thing, Selph'. We don't know where they've been. None of 'em remember. They're all being held in quarantine in the D-District Prison."

"That's horrible!" Selphie exclaimed. "They're human beings! They're innocent, they didn't do anything wrong!"

"Selphie…there's something here you might be interested in. They've released a list of people, and some of these 4400 go to Garden."

"Really? Do we know them?"

"…Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy."

The room was designed for holding mass amounts of people, but 4400 was definitely pushing its limits. However, it did work for the moment. There were no windows in this room, but one man stood by a wall, staring at it as if it were a window.

"Well, what are the chances of seeing you here."

Squall Leonhart, still 19, turned around to face his long-time nemesis, Seifer Almasy, who was still 20.

"…whatever," Squall sighed, not even bothering to turn around.

"They tell me it's the year 2004. That 6 years have passed and I don't remember a damn thing," Seifer stared at the wall too.

"I want out of here. I want out of here, and then I want answers," Squall said coldly, voice sounding almost dangerous.

"Hey, man, don't we all," Seifer sighed. "…so far you're the only person here I know."

"So now we're friends all of a sudden?" Squall glared sharply at him. "I'll never forgive you for what you did to Rinoa."

"Neither will I," Seifer said, and Squall blinked, surprised. "What did you think? I loved her too, Squall. Can we just call a truce for now? I don't expect you to forgive me, but we're in the same boat now."

"Okay," Squall mumbled. "Temporary truce."

"She's looking for you."

Squall and Seifer turned around. A young girl who looked about 8 stood there. She had long, wavy white hair and pinkish eyes. She wore a simple white dress that almost blended in with her pale skin, and no shoes. Seifer vaguely wondered how old she was supposed to be.

"Who?" Seifer and Squall both asked at the same time.

"You," she pointed to Squall. "She's by the door. She's looking for you, she just doesn't know it yet."

"Okay…I'll go find her…" Squall walked off.

"Who are you?" Seifer asked, intrigued by the girl.

"My name is Lisette. 1952," she said before Seifer could even ask.

"Seifer…1998. I bet you want out of here, too, so you can go visit your parents, right?" he said, and instantly regretted it. 49 years was a long time for anything to happen during.

"They told me that my parents died," she said bluntly. Seifer frowned, feeling guilty.

"I'm sorry, Lisette," he sat down, and she sat down beside him. "My parents are dead too."

"We should be friends, then."

"Okay," Seifer nodded. "Friends."

Squall was still trying to find the door Lisette told him of when he saw her. She was young and beautiful, with black hair and brown eyes. She grinned, pointing at the sky.

"Rinoa!" he ran over to her, hugging her. "Oh, God, Rinoa…"

"WHOA!" the girl pushed him away, just a little. "What's this all about?"

"What do you…? Rinoa, that's you, right!"

"Yeah, I'm Rinoa Heartilly, but…who are you?"

There was something about her that was different, Squall noticed. Her hair was a bit shorter, and she actually looked…younger. He felt different around her, too. She just seemed to…emit a different aura than his Rinoa. He could feel it, he just couldn't explain how.

"I'm Squall Leonhart…er…"

"1996?" Rinoa blinked, staring at the tag on his shirt. "Nuh-huh, buddy. Y'got the wrong Rinoa."

"1928…" he read her tag. "I…you have to be related to her. Maybe her grandmother. Did you have a daughter, Ms. Heartilly?"

"Sheesh," she blushed. "Rinny will be fine, that's what everyone calls me. Yeah, my daughter, Julia Heartilly…she was six months old when I left. Is hse okay! How'd she do! Where's she at!"

"She grew up and became a famous singer."

"Oh my goodness! I have to meet her!"

"…er…" How was he supposed to deliver this news to her? "She's been dead quite a while, Rinny. But she had a perfect daughter named Rinoa Heartilly that I'm engaged to," Squall smiled proudly, trying to provide something positive to help her through Julia.

"In that case," Rinny smiled sadly, rubbing her eyes frantically. "I guess I'll be seeing you soon."

Squall left her to contend with all that news and continued walking to the area Lisette told him about. He saw her instantly. She looked no different now than she had in Laguna's memories.

"Raine…"

The girl turned around, looking surprised.

"Yes? Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"I'm…I'm Squall. Squall Leonhart-Loire."

Raine blinked, staring at him, then threw her arms around him.

"S-squall?" she said, voice thick.

"Yeah," he smiled, hugging her back.

"Oh my God, my baby…you were just a baby…and look at you now!"

Rinny watched them from a distance, unable to put into words the loneliness that gripped her heart, despite the fact that she was crowed into a room with 4399 other people.

Seifer and Squall were lead to another room just outside the quarantine room where Selphie and Xu were waiting on them.

"Selphie! Xu!"

"You guys are okay! Booyaka!" Selphie giggled in delight, hugging each of them in turn, practically choking both. "I can't believe this!"

"How's Rinoa? Is she okay?" Squall asked.

"When are they gonna let us outta quarantine?" Seifer inquired.

"Rina's fine. I don't know how much longer it'll be. We have to determine that everyone here is safe, update some people on vaccinations, contact families…there's a lot of technical stuff," Xu sighed. "It shouldn't be much longer, though."

"Good," Squall nodded. Seifer was lost in thought, though, wondering where some people would go if they didn't have anybody left…

"Met anybody interesting?" Selphie asked.

"Rinoa's grandmother, my mom, and 3996 other people ho have no idea what's happened. Where were we, Selphie? What took us?" Squall frowned.

"We dunno…"

"Well, I was with Quistis and Nida when I disappeared. Why don't you ask them?"

"…Quisty has been in a coma since you left," Selphie said quietly. "And Nida died in a car wreck on the way to Balamb to get help."

"What?" Squall blinked. "…I…gotta go, Sefie," he walked out. He had to get out of there. Wasn't there _anywhere_ he could be alone at?

"Hey," Rinny stopped him on his way out. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Rinny…we have no idea what's happened out there…"

"What happened?"

"Just…I just want to be left alone."

a/n: Chapter two done! No owning The 4400, no owning FF8. Now you know my secret --;

love and peace,

xifa


	3. Return

A/n: still don't own FF8, still don't own the 4400…and technically, I don't even have FF8 anymore and haven't played in a long time, so the characters are probably way off . (which is my fault, because I often remember them acting the way I _think_ they should and not always how they are…)

ANYWAYS! Hope you're enjoying this

….I hate this chapter --;

Chapter Three: Return

"Don't they think 3 weeks is a little early to let them go?" Xu blinked.

"Who cares!" Selphie grinned, standing with Xu, Irvine, Rinoa, and Zell, holding a sign that said '01998'. Squall's number. "We get to—here they come! Squall! Squall!"

Most of probably had to do with Selphie's ecstatic high-pitched screaming, but Squall found them quickly none-the-less. He ran over, naturally going to Rinoa first.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, hugging her. She pulled back slightly, shaking her head. He paused, confused, looking to his friends for guidance. Was she mad? He didn't want to leave, no, he would have given anything to have not lost these last 6 years! Apparently, everyone knew something he didn't, judging by the way everyone's eyes were avoiding him. He stopped on Zell, who looked the most out of place. Although his shifty eyes matched the eyes of everyone else in his group of friends, the child he was carrying didn't.

It was a blonde Rinoa. He could hardly believe it. He turned to Rinoa, lost for words and hoping now only for an explanation.

"Rin'…is he…is…"

He couldn't even get the words out, and that only escalated his anger. He closed his eyes, holding it back. Now wasn't the time to get mad.

"I thought you were dead, Squall," Rinoa said quietly.

"Well," he forced a smile, feeling sick. "Um, congratulations."

Unable to force anything else out, he turned and walked off, having never in his life felt more betrayed by the ones he trusted the most.

"Hey, Lisette…you comin'?"

Seifer looked to Lisette, confused. Very few people were left in quarantine. Those who had nowhere to go had teamed up and decided to aid each other in attempting to get a fresh start.

"…no."

"You know what? I know just the place for a girl like you. You wanna come to a garden with me?"

"With pretty flowers?" Lisette looked up hopefully, and Seifer knew the choice had just made was in all ways right. It might have been the only right choice he'd made in his life, he realized with a start, then shook that thought off. Maybe this, helping this girl who had no one to help her, would be his redemption.

"Well, something like that…"

"Okay. I'll go."

Former President Laguna Loire of Esthar, 76, stood alone outside the D-District Prison, holding the number 31954. His heart was racing, and he couldn't deny the stinging of tears in his eyes. Were they serious? After 50 long years, did he really have the chance to make it up to her?

"Raine?" he called, the word sounding strange after so many years. "Raine?"

He looked around the area. So many people were here. Families reuniting with their loved ones. Parents reuniting with children the same age as them. People returning to their lives, or, in Laguna's case, finding their lives.

What on earth would he say? How could he apologize? And what would she think? He wasn't the young kid he once was. Heck, he was old enough now to be her grandfather, maybe even her great-grandfather.

There she was, still as young and beautiful as she'd been when he'd last seen her. He held his breath, unable to believe it.

And yet, here he was, snow-white hair and with hands that shook so bad he couldn't even hold a coffee cup anymore. He stared at her, mesmerized by her beauty, overcome by regret at the lost years, desperate to know if she saw him…desperate to be young again.

"L-Laguna?" she gasped, then ran towards him. He held out his arms, but she stopped before him.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to say.

Redemption. All those years, and that was what he'd wanted to say so bad.

"It's okay," she said, hugging him gently. He wrapped his arms around her as well, and both wept for lost destiny.

Rinny, in the meantime, was having a harder time. She frantically searched for anyone holding her number, anyone…

"I'm just too damn old!" she yelled, not sure anyone even heard her over the roar of happily-reunited families.

"…never dreamed I'd hear that from someone who looks younger than me."

She looked up at Squall, frustrated.

"Well, how old are you?" she frowned.

"19. Should be 25."

"Well, gee, how about that," she sighed. "17, should be…ah…um…96…no, 93. 93."

"17, is that all?" he asked, looking slightly surprised.

"Do I look **that** old?" she snapped.

"You just said you had a daughter, so I figured—"

"—times were different," she cut him off, not sure if that was true or not. She didn't care. He'd never know if times really were different back then from now, she hoped.

"Don't get offended or anything," he shrugged. "It's your choice, and times probably were different. Doesn't matter if they were or not, though. What you do is your own decision."

She stopped, shocked. People in this time were _definitely_ more open-minded. Her decision to keep Julia despite her age hadn't been so well accepted in her day…

"Wow. Thanks, Squall."

He shrugged again, and now she felt obliged to keep up the conversation, in a much happier mood than she had been about .05354 seconds ago.

"Sooo…" she asked conversationally, "Did you find my granddaughter/your fiancée yet?"

"Your granddaughter, my friend's wife," he corrected her, no emotion in her voice although she knew it must be killing him.

"Ouch," she winced. "I'm sorry about that."

"She's…happy," he smiled sadly. "I'll accept it, as long as she's happy."

"You're a good kid," Rinny smiled. "Shame you weren't around in my day!" she laughed. "C'mon, laugh! It's good for the soul!"

"…you really are bipolar," he said weakly, and laughed a little as she chased after him with a glare of death on her face.

a/n: eek, did that scare you all off? I almost destroyed this story with this chapter. Everything up until halfway through this chapter was written a year ago. I just restarted a few weeks ago, finally deciding that no matter how much trouble I was having, I had to get through it. Now I feel re-inspired, though, so I hope you stick with this.


	4. Readjusting

A/n: This might come as a shock to all of you, but I haven't magically acquired FF8 or 4400 since the last chapter. I still don't own them. Alright, we're good

Chapter Four: Readjusting

Maybe it was the awkwardness of being around his friends that lead Squall to spend most of his time in the infirmary with Quistis or talking to Rinny over the internet.

"Why are you still in quarantine?" he asked, staring at the camera on the screen. Rinny was the only vibrant thing in the D-District prison, a spot of color against a sea of dark and greyness.

"Where am I gonna go?" she laughed weakly. "Home? Methinks not."

"It's so…dead there. You didn't get to enjoy your life in your own time, and you're still trapped in there."

"Mweh," she smiled. "I deal."

"You should come to Garden," he said suddenly. "I'm sure you'd love to meet Rinoa, right?"

"And am I going to walk to this Balamb that _I've_ never even _heard_ of?"

"…I'll ask Cid if you can come and I'll talk to you later."

"And this is the infirmary—like a hospital," Seifer said. "If you feel sick, go here, okay?"

"…one of your friends will be here soon," Lisette said calmly. "But not me."

"Uh…yeah," he blinked, then smiled. "Well, welcome to Garden! There's a few kids here your age, you could be friends with them. See?" he pointed over to a group of kids playing Triple Triad. "There's some there!"

"Okay," she said quietly, going over and joining them.

Seifer sighed. Well, that bought him some time. Now he'd have to go find some uniforms for her, maybe a toy or two. He hadn't realized how much responsibility a child came with.

"She's cute," Fujin smiled, appearing behind him randomly like she had always been so good at. "One of the 4400?"

"Yeah. One of the oldest ones—disappeared in 1952."

"Who was the oldest?" Fujin asked with interest.

"This girl who looks just like Rinoa looked like at 17. 1928ish was when she left."

"Wouldn't Lisette's parents be alive? 1952 wasn't all that long ago."

"I think they died in the Lunar Cry," Seifer informed her.

"It's a shame," she sighed. "That was very generous of you to take her, though."

"Um…thanks."

"…it's been a long 6 years."

He looked to Fujin. As children, she'd always hoped to outgrow him in age. He'd laughed because he understood the impossibility of it. Every time she had a birthday, she'd announce she was closer, forgetting he had a birthday too. She couldn't comprehend that at the time, but he did.

…however, now she'd gotten her wish.

"You don't know the half of it, Fujin."

"Xu? Selphie?"

"Yessir," Xu saluted Cid, looking around his disastrous office. She'd really have to get cleaning on it, sometime when he wouldn't notice. All the dust was killing her.

"Reporting for duty, sir!" Selphie beamed, following suit.

"…we're putting some investigation on this 4400 case," Cid informed them.

"Can't we just be happy that everyone's back and safe?" Selphie sighed.

"Look at it this way, Selph'," Xu explained, realizing she had to talk Selphie back into this. She wanted to look into the case out of pure curiosity, if nothing else, and if Selphie wouldn't agree, Cid might change his mind. "By investigating it, we can explain what happened to the poor, confused people AND prevent it from happening again."

"I'm in," Selphie nodded.

"So what we're going to do," Cid said, "is send you two to join a special task force for only this job. You two will represent Balamb. There will also be two for Galbadia Garden, one for Trabia garden, and two from the governments of Esthar, Balamb, and Galbadia. The Shumi might be sending a representative too, although I'm not sure about that. They're not really that connected with everything that happened, and I'm not sure if any of the 4400 were from their village or not. However, that only makes 10 people, if they send as many as they plan on. If it is ten, though, that's only 10 to take care of 4400 people. That's 440 per person."

"I'm sure it will expand as needed," Xu nodded, knowing it would. It would never survive with such a small number.

"Well, it's centered in Centra, near where it actually happened. Well, sort of. It's a little more hidden, kind of hard to get too, but nothing the Ragnarok can't handle. However, you two are under any circumstances _not_ to mention this unless it involves putting your life in danger."

"No problem, sir!" Selphie beamed.

"It's an honor, sir," Xu saluted him.

"You begin tomorrow. The specifics and exact location are on the Ragnarok. You'll probably need to leave by 7 in the morning."

"We'll be there," they chorused in unison.

"You're dismissed," Cid smiled, and they walked out.

a/n: I hope you're enjoying this so far. Right now, I'm desperately trying to think of a better title. I didn't have one when I submitted it, so I just randomly threw something down…and it sucks --; Or does it? O.o If you all like it, I'll keep it, but if someone has a better suggestion, I'd uber-appreciate it XD

love and peace,

xifa


	5. Start

A/n: Hey, guys, series two of the 4400 (show that this crosses over with) is now on that one channel. If you have satellite, you can probably get it. Start looking XD You can also buy season one at walmart for $20. Burn me a copy when you do…wait! I didn't say that, Mr. RIAA person… . Anyways, I think it's safe to say the only character I own is Rinny, and I stole her name, so I don't own her. Oh, and Lisette. But who really knows about her anyway? XD

Chapter Five: Start

Headmaster Cid had consented for her to stay, so he'd taken the opportunity and paid for her train ticket to Balamb. Cid had agreed, mainly because he felt like he'd owed him for the previous adventure with Ultemecia. To him, that was a lifetime ago.

Despite all of this, Squall found himself standing at the train station in Balamb, just watching, waiting for her arrival, finding, much to his surprise and not so sure it was as much to his liking, that he was actually looking forward to seeing her again.

Maybe it was because they were both in the same boat, he told himself, a boat with 3398 other strangers. Maybe it was her vibrant personality. Maybe it wasn't important, he reminded himself.

Still, though, he did find himself smiling as she walked towards him. She looked almost comical in her old work uniform. It was interesting to see how differently times had caused so many things to change. Maybe he could get her a uniform, he thought to himself, at least add something to her wardrobe. He'd been lucky he had clothes to come back to. He felt pity for those who didn't. It had to be hard.

"Eh? Squall?" Rinny called, and he smiled. She could pass for Rinoa, until she started talking, that was.

"Over here," he called, and she skipped over to him, beaming.

"Squallllll, hey," she grinned. "Man, trains sure have changed a lot since _I_ was a kid! I NEVER remembered them going underground, much less under water! Well, can I see your garden now?"

"Yeah," she smiled, and they started walking back. She didn't complain about the distance, but instead walked in silence. It was a comfortable silence, though, one that lasted the duration of the entire trip back, which wasn't altogether that long.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!"

Squall jumped, slightly startled at her sudden outburst, then looked from her to the object she was pointing at, which just happened to be the ever-floating mobile garden.

This was the first time she'd ever really seen the world since 1928. How was he supposed to explain all of this to her?

"That's…my garden," he said simply.

"Well, they've changed a heck of a lot since my day too! Where are all the flowers?"

"Only SeeDs," he said vaguely. "The people."

She was silent as they ascended the ramp and entered.

"HOLY COW!" she exclaimed, and he wondered what it was this time. He looked up and saw Rinoa. Well, that might be it. "That's—YOU! HEY! YOU! IN THE BLUE!"

Rinoa blinked, looking up at her.

"Oh, wow…" Rinoa looked taken aback, and Squall could hardly blame her. "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm Rinoa Heartilly!" Rinny grinned.

"That's cool," Rinoa grinned. "So am I."

"Well, I go by Rinny, so it shouldn't be too confusing."

"Are we…related?" Rinoa finally managed to ask.

"I'm…" Rinny paused, and Squall could almost see the pain in her eyes. How were you supposed to explain how you were a sudden blast from the past? And he thought it'd been hard getting the B-Garden kids to leave him alone about where he'd been. "I'm one of those 4400," Rinny finally settled for saying. "Disappeared in 1928. I'm…Julia Heartilly's mommy. Your grandmother."

Rinoa looked like she was paying attention, all up until the point her cell phone rang.

"Oh no, this is important," she winced, answering it. "Hello? Hang on," she put her hand over the phone and looked to Rinny. "Do you think we could talk again sometime? I'd love to get to know you."

Squall could see Rinny's eyes light up.

"I'd forking love that!" she grinned.

"Next time I'll bring Emmie, your great-granddaughter, alright?" Rinoa grinned. "I'll meet up with you as soon as possible! It was wonderful meeting you!" she said, waving and walking off with her phone.

"I'm looking forward to it," Rinny called after her. Once Rinoa was out of sight, Squall rejoined Rinny, who sighed, as if tired. "Did I do okay?" she looked up to him, obviously nervous. It surprised him. He'd never seen her nervous around people, of all things, before. She just seemed to at ease, even with Rinoa.

"You did great," he assured her.

"…I'm too young to be a great-grandmother," she said quietly, sitting down. He sat down beside her.

_I'm too young to have already lost my destiny,_ he thought to himself, but didn't have the heart to say it outloud. Somehow, it just didn't seem to matter right now, maybe not to anyone but him. Maybe it would never matter to anyone but him.

"We're all too young…too young or too old," she said suddenly. "Where the heck were we, Squall? Does nobody really know?"

"I guess not."

"Well, what's gonna happen if whatever took us comes back?"

He closed his eyes and thought about that comforting, white light. At least he couldn't remember those past 6 years.

"I don't know, Rinny."

"And what did they do to us?" she blinked. "There's no way I went through 72 years without a single wrinkle."

"Maybe we were in a place without time."

A place without time, without memory…maybe it was, indeed, true nothingness, with only their spirits to occupy the place. He shivered, shoving those thoughts as far out of his mind as they could possibly go.

A place without time…

Xu and Selphie had arrived at the meeting that Cid assigned them to go to just as the team of people were getting ready and being called to order. They slid into the two remaining seats silently, exchanging nervous glances. The people varied in all ages and appearances.

"First off," said a man in the suit who was standing at the top of the table. Selphie decided it was safe to assume that he was probably in charge here. "I think we should introduce ourselves. I'm Dr. Vincenzo Andrés, and I was the one who was put in charge of this group by General Caraway of Galbadia and President Atlus of Esthar. I'm 36, and I'm a nuclear scientist."

Selphie and Xu exchanged glances. Wow. It was going to be practically impossible to top that. Suddenly, Selphie felt like a small child all over again, put in a room with a bunch of intelligent 'big kids'. That's exactly the feeling she had now.

"We'll go around the table," Dr. Andrés said. "Just say your name, who you're representing, and occupation to save time." He smiled to the girl at his right.

"Astrid Shinova, Galbadia, 34, lawyer."

"Roy Vera, 41, Galbadia, forensic scientist."

"Fiona Ment, 83, Esthar, historian. This is my husband, Mikael Ment, 80, Esthar, does sign language at major events and studies history as well."

"Mistral Verdana, Balamb, 26, studying computer sciences."

"Ekan, Shumi Village, I make maps."

"Reki Sario, 27, Galbadia Garden, SeeD and student of psychology."

Selphie and Xu exchanged a quick glance, and then went back to their 'professional look'.

"Magus Dinav, 30, Balamb, scientist."

"Laiken Fabria, 17, Trabia Garden, SeeD."

Selphie waved quickly, and the brown-haired, blue-eyed girl waved back cheerfully.

"David Alism, 20, Galbadia Garden, SeeD and linguist."

"Xu Eman, 28, Balamb Garden, SeeD and assistant administrator."

"Selphie Tilmitt, 26, Balamb Garden, SeeD and part-time pilot for the Ragnarok."

"Looks like we have a good group here," Dr. Andrés clapped his hands. "Now, team, what we must understand, first and foremost, is that what is going on here is top secret and for the good of the public. We have to figure out why these 4400 people were taken, who took them, where they were, why they were sent back, why it was them, if they're dangerous…and that's just the beginning. They're all questions, and we must find answers. Teamwork will be essential for this group to accomplish anything, so let's discuss ways to find answers for our questions as a team. Any suggestions, group?"

"Well, we could keep them all under watch, observe from a distance," Roy suggested. "Take notes on how well they're acting in society, etcetera."

"Good idea," Dr. Andés said, jotting the idea down on a transparency that projected into the wall. "Any others?"

"Quarantine," Ekan said, and Selphie frowned.

"Another possibility," Dr. Andés nodded. "Let's brainstorm with your teammates for a minute and see what we can come up with."

Selphie looked to Xu, still frowning.

"That doesn't mean quarantine will happen, Selph'…" Xu said.

"I hope not," she crossed her arms, glaring at Ekan.

Neither had a good feeling about it, though.

"This is THE most crazy-amazing place that I've EVER seen!" Rinny finally commented after a tour of the Garden. "So advanced! Nobody even thought of stuff like this when I was a kid."

"So, you like it?" Squall asked.

"I love your uniforms," she giggled, spinning around and enjoying the cool blue material. She smoothed down her skirt, grinning. "So comfortable! So adorable! Although they probably would have been considered slutty in my day," she winced. She was so blunt about everything, Squall couldn't help but smile. "I guess I should feel bad for liking them. They do seem modest by today's comparison, though."

He shrugged, supposing she was right. He'd never really given it much thought before.

"So soft," she laughed. "I guess I sound like a moron, eh?"

"No," he smiled. "Well, what do you think of this place?"

"It's very nice here," she commented politely. "Is that…hey! You're that little girl from quarantine!"

Lisette was already walking over. Squall had seen her with Seifer a lot, and assumed that he had brought her. He smiled slightly. Maybe Seifer finally was getting a heart.

"Hello," Lisette said to them.

"Hey!" Rinny beamed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good. How are you doing?"

"I'm great," Rinny nodded enthusiastically. Squall hoped that Lisette wouldn't get mad at her, thinking that Rinny was acting this was because she was trying to talk young to a young child. He had a feeling Rinny was just this hyper _all the time._ "Life sure is different now, isn't it?"

"Yours is about to get even more different," Lisette said quietly.

Rinny blinked, shivered, then smiled again.

"I bet it is, dear. I bet it is."

a/n: Alrighty…

This is a note on Xu's last name! She doesn't have one! So, I had to make one up. Her last name, Eman, is just name spelled backward. I'm not altogether too creative. The other characters aren't in the game, the huge long boring list of them. Most of them I just made up --; Or thought up. Or stole names of fonts. I'm kind of lame like that.

WELL, chapter five is here and I'm glad to see people are reading it! In fact, I'm so happy, that I want to individually thank each reviewer AND all of you reading this! I'm open to any feedback, so please feel free to complain all you want. Or if you like it, I'd like to know, because knowing that brings sunshine to my day and a smile to my face! (Well, I'm not really sure if it does, but I know it makes me happy. I just wanted to say something cheesy.)

Griever5 – THANX! Your review was the 1rst one I read, and I was afraid it was gonna be like, a super-flame. A flame so bad that I'd just WHOOSH! and incinerate on the spot. So thanx for the niceness

Yae – um, you probably noticed this, but there probably won't be too much more Rinoa/Squall interaction o.O Just a little, randomly…obviously that's not important anymore…

Okay, time for xifa to admit a secret. You never see Rinoa in my stories because I can't portray her to save my life. End of secret.

Melukia – Hey, I got another review from you today XD Yes, Squall being Laguna's kid is just a rumor. But I'd like to believe that it's true, so it is in this fic XD I'm glad you questioned it though, always ask questions

So…that's all. Thanx again!

Love and peace,

xifa


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